Thomas and Algy
Plot The trains on Thomas' line ran smoothly. Every engine was on time and the goods and passengers got to their destinations. However, the roads were a different story. For Bertie, the passengers were unbearable. Every day at every stop, more and more people would be crowded on the bus stops, wanting to get a ride Often times two passengers had to share a seat. It was quite an uncomfortable experience for the bus; he often felt cramped and was a bit crankier than usual. One morning, Bertie had to wait at a bus stop for a very long time indeed. "Ugh, hurry up! Thomas is waiting for me!" Bertie complained. But more people just kept on coming. Soon, the bus was full with passengers. "There's no more room," said Bertie grumpily, "You'll have to wait for the next bus..." "Aww..." cried the passengers. Bertie snorted and drove away to Dryaw. But by the time the red bus arrived at the station, he was very late indeed. "Look Thomas, I am so sorry," cried Bertie. Thomas wasn't even listening to Bertie; he was furious. "Bertie, I know we're friends, but do you have to be so careless? You made me very late and the Fat Controller is sure to reprimand me! This is the fifth time this week!" Bertie sighed. "I'm sorry Thomas, it's all these passengers. They just keep coming and coming." "Well you buses are limited to yourselves. We engines have coaches so we can take unlimited passengers if we can do so." Bertie was cross. "I have my limits you know, and so do you!" "No I don't," Thomas boasted, "I can probably pull infinite passengers, unlike you." "Rubbish! Everyone has their limit!" retorted Bertie. Thomas reached his breaking point. "Oh really? If you have limits, then why don't you try and not be late for once! Railways are better than the roads will ever be, and the railways are classical! This is why heritage railways are very popular, and hopefully they'll over take highways!" Everyone was very stunned, especially Annie and Clarabel. They couldn't think of anything to say. "T-Thomas! I..." stammered Annie. Finally, Clarabel found her words. "That was completely uncalled for!" finished Clarabel. Thomas rolled his eyes and puffed away; he didn't care. Bertie was left completely shocked, unable to make a comeback. That afternoon, Bertie was fuming as he rested in Ffarquhar Yards. "That cheek! Thomas knows it's not my fault!" he grumbled. Percy was shunting nearby and overheard. He puffed over to the bus. "What's wrong Bertie?" asked Percy worriedly. Bertie snorted. "Thomas said railways were better than roads, and to top it all off, he thinks I'm the cause of him being late!" "Well, I'm sure it's just the work getting to him," said Percy gravely, "The branch line's getting busier too." "Maybe, but he needs to be taught a lesson!" "That I agree with." said Percy, "He's been out of control. Going off without a back engine, trying to find a shortcut, hiding his snowplough..." "My question is how I do it..." Bertie wondered. "I'm sure you'll think of something, Bertie!" and Percy went back to shunting. Bertie sighed. "...I hope so..." The next day, a blue bus emerged from the Crosby Garage. "Hello, and I'm back, ready to zip around the roads!" The bus grinned as Jason puffed by with some trucks of machinery to drop off. "What's with all the noise?" the old engine asked indignantly. Jason looked over to see the blue bus honking happily. "Hello there green engine, I'm Algy and I'm back from being repaired!" "Uh.. that's fantastic. Where are you off to?" asked Jason. "I was told to go the Ffarquhar Branch instead of the Little Western, so that's where I'm headed. See ya!" and Algy raced off in a flash. "Well, that's quite an interesting character...!" Jason muttered to himself. Later in the afternoon, Algy drove into Knapford. Bertie was grumpily waiting there. Algy grinned as he drove up to his old friend. "Hello Bertie! Long time no see." said Algy. Bertie looked over and smiled. "Well Algy, where have you been?" "Getting rebuilt. That's why I've been gone for so long. There's so much to catch up on!" Before Bertie could reply, Thomas whistled into the station to collect Old Slow Coach from Gordon. He was still boasting about Bertie. "Fancy that buses are modern when they can't beat a steam engine, which are supposedly old." he said as he pulled in. Annie and Clarabel were very cross. "Thomas, this is out of line and very vulgar!" cried Annie in disgust. "It's only true. I mean, if traffic's such a big problem, why can't they go on railways?" "Thomas, the railway's getting busier every year." snorted Clarabel, "We're very famous across the world." Before Thomas could retort, Gordon arrived with his coaches, and was less than impressed. "You know Thomas, I thought you learned your lesson about boasting about races..." grumbled Gordon. "Well, Bertie's causing me to be late, so he deserves something!" "Thomas, this isn't worth it," Gordon grunted. Thomas rolled his eyes. "Of course it's worth it." "You're making Gordon look like Edward." grumbled his driver. Thomas wheeshed steam loudly, trying to blow steam at Gordon. Gordon sighed sadly and puffed away, leaving Old Slow Coach for Thomas. "Come along, we mustn't be delayed by any more traffic..." said Thomas bitterly as Clarabel was coupled up to Old Slow Coach. Old Slow Coach was worried. "What's wrong with Thomas?" she asked to Annie and Clarabel. "Thomas is having a petty feud with Bertie..." sighed Clarabel. "Again..." muttered Annie. Algy was worried too. "My gosh, is Thomas really this grumpy?" the blue bus asked. "Well, not usually, but today he's gone seemingly all the way." explained Bertie. Algy grinned as he suddenly got an idea and honked his horn. "Wait, what are you doing?" asked Bertie worriedly. "Heh heh, you'll see." Algy said, chuckling. Bertie gulped as Algy revved his engine and raced off into the distance. He honked his horn to catch Thomas' attention. "Catch me if you can!" the bus grinned as he drove off. Thomas was so caught in his mood about buses that he was determined to beat the bus. He whistled with determination. "You're on... bus." Thomas cried. "Wait, what?" cried Old Slow Coach as Thomas raced off. The coaches jerked forward, quite surprised indeed. "Thomas, what are you doing?!" cried Annie. "Uh Algy! You know that's not such a wise idea..! Oh boy..." sighed Bertie. Thomas didn't go very far along his branch line when Annie and Clarabel were shouting remarks at him. "Thomas, I say, don't do this again!" said Annie. "It's just a friendly race." huffed Thomas, "I'm not trying to prove a point." "Right, and I'm a Troublesome Truck..." muttered Annie with disapproval. "I agree with Annie, Thomas," cried Old Slow Coach, "This isn't my style! This is reckless!" Thomas rolled his eyes as he went faster; he wanted to beat Algy at all costs to prove that railways were better. This caused concern for his driver. "Thomas, if you go any faster I swear you'll burst a valve!" Thomas let off steam angrily. "Hurry, hurry, hurry!" he imitated as he raced through Toryreck. Meanwhile, Algy was racing on the road, stopping occasionally at a bus stop. As he screeched to a halt for people to get off, he quickly got impatient. "Hurry, you slow people! I have to go fast!" he urged. The passengers got on and off quickly and Algy drove off like a bullet. "I'll win over that silly tank engine!" he boasted, "I'll help Bertie and prove that roads are better." Suddenly he saw a car stopped at a blinking red light. The driver braked hard and Algy stopped, just in time. Algy was cross. "What's the hold up?" "The light's broken." explained a workman, "Cars must travel safely." Algy groaned as he very slowly drove up to the light. "Bother..." he fumed as he saw Thomas down below, puffing along the line. Thomas went faster and faster as he saw Maithwaite Station up ahead. "I must win, I must win!" he panted, "I'll prove our stance..." "I have a bad feeling about this," said Clarabel worriedly. "Relax, I'm perfect at this." huffed Thomas, "I have plenty of experience." Algy, meanwhile, saw Thomas as he rounded the bend to Maithwaite. "I'll cut across the level crossing." he grinned, "That'll cut him off and get me a chance to pass him." So he drove straight to the level crossing. On the track, Thomas whistled. "Bye bye Algy!" he grinned; he thought he had lost the bus since he couldn't see him, but was going so fast that he didn't notice that the level crossing gates had closed for Algy. But the coaches did. "Thomas, stooop!" cried Annie. "Huh?" Before Thomas could see them, he smashed through the gates, and into Algy. A loud crunch was heard, and steam flew everywhere. "Ow!" cried Thomas as a burst of steam erupted from his cab. "Oh, my dents... My poor dents..." Algy waited. "Your dents, you stupid bus?! What about me?" "Oh, stow it." huffed Algy. Everybody was very cross about the situation. Later, the Fat Controller inspected the damage. "Thomas, I am very displeased with you. I thought you knew that racing was a bad idea." he sighed, "You could've sincerely hurt your passengers, and Algy's as well... " Thomas felt very upset. "I'm sorry sir, I suppose I forgot since Algy asked me to." The Fat Controller glared at Algy. "And you Algy... Your engine didn't work that greatly before. It's going to take days to put you back together." Algy groaned. "Yes sir... Sorry sir..." Soon, the mess was being cleared, and Thomas was put back onto the rails. Percy arrived to shunt Thomas to the Steamworks. "Thomas, what were you thinking?" he asked crossly. Thomas didn't reply as Percy puffed away, pushing his friend. Then, Butch arrived for Algy as the passengers crossly got out. He sighed as his hook was hooked up to Algy. "My, my. This is... upsetting." said Butch as he towed Algy away. Eventually, Bertie had to come and get Algy's passengers. "I'm sorry for being late," apologized Bertie as he drove in, "But I had other passengers to deliver." "It's not your fault," said a smartly dressed man, "It's Thomas and Algy's." Thomas and Algy were in disgrace. A few days later, Thomas and Algy were both repaired. As punishment, Thomas stayed in the shed. "Oh well, I wanted a rest anyway." Thomas said sadly, "I just wish Percy didn't have to take Annie and Clarabel..." Algy quietly drove up next to him. "Uh, hello again." Thomas looked away crossly. Algy sighed. "Thomas, I'm very sorry... I was being rather foolish..." Thomas couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Of course you were... Granted, so was I." Algy laughed heartily. "We both were. What caused it...?" Thomas' smile faded. "Oh, just an argument...with my good friend...Bertie..." Algy grinned broadly. "I'm good friends with him. I can patch things up with him if you like." Thomas sighed sadly, looking down at his buffers. "No it's my fault for being too big for my buffers, as Edward would put it." Algy smiled slightly. "It's my fault too. I did overdo my talents." "I hope Bertie can forgive me." said Thomas sadly, "I've been a very poor friend." "I already have Thomas." and Bertie drove up alongside Algy. "Bertie?!" cried Thomas. "Heh heh, hello Thomas! And Algy, I warned you." Bertie teased. Algy rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know..." Bertie then looked to Thomas. "I have periods when I'm in a bad mood. Like that time I was stubborn to you and didn't get my lamp repaired." "I remember." chuckled Thomas, 'At least now I have two bus friends!" Bertie and Algy honked their horns with delight, while Thomas just grinned. Even with the consequences, it worked out, as quarrels among friends should. Characters * Thomas * Gordon * Percy * Jason * Mavis * Annie and Clarabel * Old Slow Coach * Bertie * Butch * Algy * Toby (cameo) * Henrietta (cameo) * Terence (cameo) * Jacob (cameo) * Edward (mentioned) Trivia * References to the seventeenth season episodes No Snow for Thomas and Thomas' Shortcut, the eighteenth season episode Thomas the Quarry Engine, and the story Bertie and the Fog are made. Category:Sodor Adventures